Ethylene, the most widely used organic compound and a key building block in the chemical industry, is predominantly produced through high-temperature steam cracking of ethane derived from fossil fuels. This energy-intensive process is highly energy-intensive and significantly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. In consideration of this challenge, a sustainable alternative method for the selective conversion of ethane to ethylene, with hydrogen as a co-product, is driven solely by sunlight and operates under ambient conditions. This solar-driven catalytic process offers a renewable and environmentally friendly route for ethylene and hydrogen production, circumventing the need for fossil fuel-based feedstocks and the associated carbon footprint of conventional steam cracking.
Recently, Prof. Le He and Prof. Xiaohong Zhang from the Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials at Soochow University and Prof. Geoffrey A. Ozin from University of Toronto have developed an isomorphic copper-substituted lanthanum manganese oxide perovskite (LaMn1-xCuxO3)photocatalyst and demonstrated its ability to selectively convert ethane into ethylene through a non-oxidative photocatalytic dehydrogenation process.This perovskite oxide possesses redox-active Lewis acid sites comprising Mn(III) and Mn(IV), andredox-active Lewis base sites, comprising O(-II) and OH(-I), collectively dubbed surface frustrated Lewis pairs (SFLPs).Under light illumination and without external heating, the catalyst achieved an impressive ethylene production rate of 1.1 mmol/g/h with an ethane conversion of 4.9%. Detailed analysis revealed that this catalytic process over theLaMn1-xCuxO3operates in the photoexcited state, benefiting from the tailored SFLP provided by photogenerated electron-hole pairs. Additionally, non-radiative electron-hole recombination can produce local heating through phonon confinement, introducing a photothermal advantage to the overall photochemical process. Further, to demonstrate the practical viability and scalability of this solar-driven ethane-to-ethylene/hydrogen process, theyconducted a test of the simple outdoor prototype, which successful operation illustrated the potential utilization of solar energy in their system. Moreover, they performed a comprehensive techno-economic analysis to evaluate the energy and economic potential of an industrial-scale, continuous 24/7 process powered by light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The techno-economic evaluation unveiled the solar-driven approach's potential for industrial-scale implementation, providing an economically feasible, energy- and carbon-efficient alternative to conventional fossil fuel-based ethylene production routes.
The above research has been published online in Nature Energy (DOI: 10.1038/s41560-024-01541-7).
Link to paper：https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-024-01541-7
Title:Ethylene production via photocatalytic dehydrogenation of ethane using LaMn1−xCuxO3
Authors：Rui Song, Guanshu Zhao, Juan Manuel Restrepo-Flórez, Camilo J. Viasus Pérez, Zhijie Chen, Chaoqian Ai, Andrew Wang, Dengwei Jing, Athanasios A. Tountas, Jiuli Guo, Chengliang Mao, Chaoran Li, Jiahui Shen, Guangming Cai, Chenyue Qiu, Jessica Ye, Yubin Fu, Chistos T. Maravelias, Lu Wang, Junchuan Sun, Yang-Fan Xu, Zhao Li, Joel Yi Yang Loh, Nhat Truong Nguyen, Le He*, Xiaohong Zhang* & Geoffrey A. Ozin*
Link to Prof. Xiaohong Zhang's group:https://funsom.suda.edu.cn/funsomen/c3/f2/c3002a50162/page.htm
Link to Prof. Le He's group:https://funsom.suda.edu.cn/funsomen/9d/87/c3014a564615/page.htm
Editor: Guo Jia